Pigs Won’t Bring Home The Bacon In Their Golden Year
China Central Television (CCTV) is reported to have banned TV advertisements featuring pigs from next month. Although next month kicks off the Year of the Pig, Chinese authorities are apparently concerned about the possibility of advertisements and other imagery involving the pig offending the country’s 20 million Muslims.
While the majority ethnic Han Chinese revere the pig and consider it a symbol of prosperity, Muslims, comprised of several of China’s ethnic minority populations, abhor pigs as unclean animals and avoid eating pork meat.
The decision by CCTV has forced a number of foreign companies to cancel planned TV advertisements, some of which had completed production already and were due to commence airing next month. The Year of the Pig commences on 18 February.
For Han Chinese 2007 will be the Year of the Golden Pig, which only occurs every 60 years. This is considered especially propitious and many Chinese couples deferred having a child during 2006 so that their baby will be born in the special year.
Now that
China has decided to be more mindful of its multiculturalism, foreign companies will need to plan their PR and advertising campaigns more carefully, taking into account the sensitivities of the nation’s 56 ethnic minorities and numerous religions.
